It’s been since months since Oihan Sancet suffered a torn ACL while playing with Bilbao Athletic, but there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel. Since his surgery the 18-year-old has been relentless in the recovery process that has gone perfectly according to plan. Over the past few weeks he’s been training separately at Lezama but has now taken another big step forward.

Sancet joined the first team in Saturday’s recovery session at Lezama where he worked under the order of manager Gaizka Garitano. It wasn’t a regular training session since the team just played the night before, but seeing the midfielder participate in drills with his teammates is a fantastic sign. The club will be cautious with Sancet, however the belief is that he will be able to play again this season. Whether or not he will return to Bilbao Athletic or stay with the first team is the big question at this point.

Victor San Bartolomé also trained with the first team on Saturday. Bilbao Athletic are traveling to face off with Mirandés on Sunday and San Bartolomé is suspended due to yellow card accumulation. The 19-year-old midfielder was in good form when Garitano was coaching the reserves and was given the chance to work with the senior squad.

Iñigo Lekue has already integrated back into the team after missing several months recovering from lower back surgery. He is available to Garitano, although it will be different to get minutes considering that he hasn’t played a single minute this season. Ander Capa is still recovering from a strained hamstring and worked apart from the group on a separate field. He is expected to miss Saturday’s match against Atlético Madrid and return to training during the international break.

Meanwhile, Aritz Aduriz continued his recovery from a knee injury and is closer than ever to returning to training. The striker worked individually with Xavier Clemente doing ball drills on the grass and also on sand which helps strengthen muscles. Aduriz has said that he feels much better and the club will be reassessing the 38-year-old within the next two weeks to determine if he is ready to rejoin his teammates. If everything continues to go well Aduriz is expected to be back in training during the upcoming international break.